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Re: Reglan or Mothers Milk and Fenugeek? What would you do?

Beth,
I agree with pp, why not try the more natural way and see what happens first? What is the harm?
Is your baby still eating every three to four hours? What about in the evening? When you pump, do you use compressions? Can you tell us about what kind of pump you have and how old it is?

Re: Reglan or Mothers Milk and Fenugeek? What would you do?

I will definitely go with the natural way first too .... /you mentioned having history of depression and anxiety in the past so I will give it a try to the natural way.... Also remember that the key is empting your breast and nursing very frequent to increase supply.... Good luck with your desition

I need to do something quickly as my supply has dramatically dipped and pumping every few hours and feeding on demand is not helping.

The best way to increase milk production is to remove more milk.

Could you please tell us a bit more about your production issues? How did you know your production was low? When did the decline in production begin? Can you think of anything specific that it might correlated to? What things have you been doing to increase your production?

Re: Reglan or Mothers Milk and Fenugeek? What would you do?

My little one is 7 months old and still nursing every 3-4 hours during the day and will usually go 5-6 hour stretches in the middle of the night.

My right breast has always made more milk then the left. If my son nurses from my left breast he will also nurse from the right during a feeding. However, if he nurses from the right breast he usually won't want to nurse from the left breast during a feeding...he must get more from the right?

I started pumping 2x's a day again, after I feed him in the morning and then again about 2 hours after he goes down for the night. I might get a total of 3oz a day pumping on that schedule.

I feel that my supply has decreased based on the fact that there are several times during the day that he does not seem satisfied after nursing and when I pump I get less then half of what I normally get.

He does eat solids 3 times a day and that does not seem to effect how often or how long he wants to nurse...he has always been a quick nurser 7-10 minutes tops.

Usually he eats at the same times each day, however today I tried nursing him more often to try and stimulate more milk production.

I also have an extremely SLOW let down, if I feel it at all. I know that he gets frustrated with this and despite my attempts to visualize, relax etc I can't seem to change this fact....any suggestions?

This is why I want to increase my supply:

1. I am scared that I will be forced to quit nursing before both my son and I am ready to do so. My short term goal is to nurse him another 3 months and if all goes well to then continue until at least a year.

2. Since he is eating cereal I want to provide at least 4oz a day to mix with it, 8 oz would be ideal but I will take whatever I can get at this point. I have a small stash of frozen breast milk that I have not added to in the last few weeks but have steadily been taking milk from to compensate for my drop in milk production to cover cereal and any bottles needed through out the week.

Re: Reglan or Mothers Milk and Fenugeek? What would you do?

Oh...and I have been drinking more water and eating oatmeal every morning to try and increase my supply

the only thing I can contribute the decrease to is I "think" that I got my period last month and then again last week.. I spotted but did not have a normal "period"....I think the change was do to my IUD which I got 6 months ago so I don't think that would play a factor in any decrease in production at this point....sorry if TMI!!

Re: Reglan or Mothers Milk and Fenugeek? What would you do?

Having your menstrual cycle come back can cause many woman to experience a temporary dip in supply. The hormones change in your body, it makes sense right

When you nurse are you doing any breast compressions when your milk slows down?

Speaking of hormone lets talk briefly about the ones involved in milk production; in particular the one Prolactin. It naturally builds up in your blood supply during the night, peaking at around 3-5 am. This means that if you slipped in one nocturnal/early morning pumping session ( I know, I know- Am I really suggesting this ... ) You would have a greater chance of getting some serious milk. Keep in mind you need to give your body time to understand what you are wanting. So be regular and consistent.

If your baby is getting a good amount of wet/soiled diapers you are probably producing enough milk. 5-6 disposable diapers or 6-8 cloth diapers is your target for a 24 hours period.

As far as your letdown reflex goes, many women never feel it. It doesn't mean its not working right. However you can condition your reflex, and i suggest extending the amount of skin to skin contact you have with your baby. A good book on the benefits of touching between mother and child is called Touching: the human significance of the skin, written by Ashley Montagu. You can trigger your reflex by sound, smell, vision, and touch.

Re: Reglan or Mothers Milk and Fenugeek? What would you do?

I am currently on Reglan - I can't say that for me it caused depression but my main complaint is extreme drowsiness. I am a working Mom so this was really tough to deal with. As far as effectiveness, I would say that it has helped some but by no means has it been a miracle cure. For the record, I tried Fenugreek first and I have seen better results with the Reglan.